Demolition too close for comfort
The chimney of a neighbouring house crashed through the home of a wheelchair-bound woman, with the debris trapping her inside.
Kate Paterson – who has multiple sclerosis – said the owner of the neighbouring property in Point Chevalier, Auckland, refused to listen to repeated pleas that what the demolition workers were doing was dangerous.
Along with her husband and two children, Paterson was forced to spend the night in a hotel after part of the house being demolished collapsed across their property on Wednesday night and ruptured a gas main.
Paterson and her husband had sent their children away from their home because they feared their lives would be in danger.
Where the chimney fell blocked Paterson’s access in and out of her home – a ramp at the rear of the house. The incident happened at 7.45pm, nearly two hours after the demolition job was due to have stopped.
Paterson had called the property owner throughout the day, as well as the contractor, the Auckland Council and WorkSafe, because the work carried out ‘‘appeared very unprofessional’’.
The family watched as workers knocked out the corner of the house, and described concrete and debris ‘‘free-falling’’ across the site.
‘‘His foreman advised that it was 100 per cent safe but one of his workers snuck out to tell me how dangerous it was,’’ Paterson said.
She said they had been so worried they sent their children to another neighbour, and were screaming at the contractors to stop. Instead, the workers had beers delivered and continued working, she said.
As the chimney and surrounding wall came ‘‘flat down like a pancake’’ against her house, it ruptured the gas main, forcing the evacuation of her home and those around it.
But Paterson was trapped inside and fire crews had to rescue her.
‘‘All the owner said was that I was an emotional woman,’’ she said. ‘‘It was just unbelievable as we are particularly vulnerable.’’
As she normally sleeps in a hospital bed, Paterson now also requires railings and additional support to keep her safe in the hotel. They don’t know when they will be able to return home.
Quick Earth Moving general manager Jiaxie You said the company was launching an investi- gation and would ‘‘definitely’’ apologise to the Patersons, though the damage appeared to be ‘‘minor’’.
You said he was not on site at the time but had been advised that a block of concrete had smashed on to the driveway and into the house.
The demolition crew were set up on the site from Tuesday and began demolition at 7.30am on Wednesday, he said.
The crew of three - a site manager, excavator and operator - were supposed to finish at 6pm but ‘‘identified more hazards’’, You said. He was notified of falling materials by the site manager about 4pm, and was told another support excavator was required to support the wall.
The incident happened some time after, he said, and he was waiting on a report from the project manager.
A WorkSafe spokesperson said it received two calls about the demolition. ‘‘The resident raised concerns about asbestos contamination and unsafe demolition practice at a neighbouring property.
‘‘WorkSafe received further notifications after the collapse of the concrete wall.
‘‘WorkSafe attended the scene this morning and put a nondisturbance notice on the site.’’
WorkSafe was investigating further, the spokesperson said.